This book, originally published by Atlas Press in 1995, has become one of our most sought-after out-of-print titles. This new edition is a corrected reprint in a new cover and slipcase.

These four took the nihilism of the movement to its ultimate conclusion, their works are the remnants of lives lived to the limit and then cast aside with nonchalance and disdain: Vaché died of a drug overdose, Rigaut shot himself, Cravan and Torma simply vanished, their fates still a mystery. Yet their fragmentary works - to which they attached so little importance - still exert a powerful allure and were a vital inspiration for the literary movements that followed them. Vaché’s bitter humour, Cravan’s energetic invective, Rigaut’s dandyfied introspection, and Torma’s imperturbable asperity: all had their influence.

This collection contains biographical introductions to each author as well as personal recollections by their contemporaries.